Jan. 20, 2021 was a sad day for girls and women in sports.
In his Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation, President Joe Biden declared, “Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports.”
Biden has made it his mission to enforce the recently-amended Title VII section of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin…and now gender identity.
The Biden administration hasn’t directed orders at athletic organizations and schools — yet. The order only applies to specific government offices, such as the executive department, military department, and government corporations. But if Biden could accomplish this much on day one of his presidency, by the time I line up for the last 400m hurdle race of my college career in May, I could lose to a male who identifies as a female.
Yesterday was the 35th annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day, as declared by the Women’s Sports Foundation. The organization’s website said, “This celebration inspires girls and women to play and be active, to realize their full power. The confidence, strength and character gained through sports participation are the very tools girls and women need to become strong leaders in sports and life.”
If Biden’s approach permeates other areas of the country, we will lose what it means to be female athletes. Nothing hurts a woman’s confidence like losing a race to a male whose speed is naturally greater than hers.
Nothing damages hope in a young girl like being cut from her high school basketball team because she stands six inches shorter than the boy next to her in the layup line.
And nothing demotivates women to play and be active like watching decades’ worth of perseverance and dedication from the women before them be undone with a single order.
Being a female athlete at any level gives girls and women a sense of pride and accomplishment. It allows us to push our bodies to new levels and improve upon where we were the day before. It gives us new opportunities for leadership, education, and jobs.
Donna de Varona, WSF’s first president, wrote an article in 2016 about the effects of Title IX — which made it illegal to discriminate on the basis of sex — and what it’s done for women in the United States, not only in athletics, but in their education and careers.
“Since 1972, thanks to increased funding and institutional opportunities, there has been a 545% increase in the percentage of women playing college sports,” de Varona said, “and a 990% increase in the percentage of women playing high school sports.”
She reported that in a survey of 400 women from four different continents — 49% of whom were CEO or CFO-level executives and 51% of whom were in other management positions — 94% had played sports.
It’s understandable to want equality for everyone. We all want to be treated fairly — that’s why women fought for so long to form the organizations and teams we have now.
But that’s not what’s happening in athletics today. Biden’s rule change has allowed one group of people who are genetically predisposed to athletic advantages to invade another group.
In his article, “Circulating Testosterone as the Hormonal Basis of Sex Differences in Athletic Performance,” Dr. David J. Handelsman wrote, “From male puberty onwards, the sex difference in athletic performance emerges as circulating testosterone concentrations rise as the testes produce 30 times more testosterone than before puberty, resulting in men having 15- to 20-fold greater circulating testosterone than children or women at any age.”
Female athletes can’t overcome this disparity. We will lose our sports if male-to-female transgenders join our competition. If the fight is really for equality, Biden’s administration is going too far.
If he really is as pro-female as he said while choosing Kamala Harris as the first female vice president, Biden should consider the countless young women he’s harming by passing these new orders.
Sports are more than competition. They provide opportunities for relationships, strength-building, personal growth, confidence, proud achievements, and even chances for a college education and better careers. Women have come too far to lose such a valuable part of our lives now.
Calli Townsend is a senior studying sports management. She is the sports editor of the Collegian.
